THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 30, 1994 TAG: 9412290148
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 07 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Over Easy
SOURCE: Jo-Ann Clegg
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
It's been a little more than three years now since Kempsville High School coach Kendall Tata first told me about Jennifer Braun.
Jennifer, Tata said was sick with cancer. Despite her illness, the outgoing Princess Di look-alike still ran in competitions whenever her health allowed and had been crowned Kempsville's homecoming queen.
Tata was organizing a benefit run for Jennifer back then, something that could raise funds to help Jennifer's family with medical expenses not covered by insurance.
A dance organized by Kempsville High School students several months later paid for something for which there was no insurance at all, Jennifer's funeral.
``You just don't think your child is going to die that young,'' said Braun's mom, Val, a single mother and self-employed Realtor who had two other children in college during Jennifer's illness.
That was on the evening when I joined her and Tata for a few hours of reminiscing about the all too short but oh so bright life that was Jennifer's.
Braun's laugh was quick and her voice cheery when she spoke of her daughter but her eyes, reflecting lights from Tata's Christmas tree, glistened with tears as she told of Jennifer's last few months.
``We never would have made it through without the support of so many people,'' Val Braun said.
Not only did the running community and the kids at Kempsville join to raise money for Jennifer, so did the Realtors, builders and bankers with whom Val Braun had done business. Even more important was the emotional support that came from friends, neighbors and fellow parishioners at Church of the Ascension.
``Jennifer worried so about some of the other children at the hospital,'' Val Braun said. ``We even tried to help some but there was really no way for an individual to do that.''
Jennifer, however, came up with a way. ``When I get better,'' she told her mother, ``I want to use any of the money that's left over from these fund-raisers to help other families.''
Sadly, Jennifer didn't get better, but Val Braun couldn't forget her daughter's wish. After the bills were paid and the remainder tallied, she sat down with bankers and social workers to set up the Jennifer Braun Fund.
As foundations go, it's a small one. As grants go, the ones given are also small. A couple of hundred dollars to one family to keep the electricity turned on, three or four hundred to another to beat the eviction notice.
``When a child gets ill,'' Val Braun said, ``someone has to stop work to take care of him or her.'' Where there were two incomes, suddenly there is one. Where there was one, suddenly there is welfare.
What Val and Jennifer both envisioned was a fund where, with an absolute minimum of red tape, a check would be written to pay for something desperately needed.
When you have a terminally ill child, time is too precious to be spent standing in long lines or filling out reams of forms. There's none of that with the Jennifer Braun Fund.
``The (hospital) social workers call me when they know there's a need. That's verification enough for me,'' she said. There are no lines or forms. The word of the staff is all that it takes to get a grant.
Providing, of course, that there is money available. That's where Tata comes in.
Once again she's the heart behind the organization of a Jennifer Braun Memorial Run.
This one is scheduled for Saturday at the United Way Family Center near Mount Trashmore. Registration begins at noon, the one-mile run/walk starts at 1:45 p.m., the 5K at 2:15 p.m. Every penny of the $10 registration fee will go directly to helping sick kids and their families. And, of course, donations in any amount will be accepted.
``This is a no-frills race,'' Tata said. No trophies, not even a T-shirt, unless you happen to be one of the first 150 to enter.''
Thanks to a group of dedicated private and business sponsors at least there will be some door prizes.
The best prizes of all, however, will come from knowing that you're spending the last day of 1994 doing something to benefit sick kids and their families, the same kind of kids that worried Jennifer Braun so during the last few months of her brief but beautiful life. by CNB